Key Takeaways

1. The MAS Policy Document only applies to a person registered with BNM to provide merchant acquiring services (including an e-money issuer that conducts merchant acquiring services for its own e-money scheme) and fulfils the following criteria ("Qualified Acquirers"):
   1. enters into a contract with merchant(s), which results in a transfer of funds to the merchant(s) by: (i) conducting or being responsible for fund settlement; or (ii) issuing fund settlement instructions;
   2. facilitates the merchant's acceptance of payment instruments; and
   3. is a direct participant of payment instrument network(s) to provide merchant acquiring services.
2. The key changes in the MAS Policy Document from the MAS Exposure Draft include the following:
   1. removal of specific fit and proper criteria for key responsible persons of Qualified Acquirers (although Qualified Acquirers must still establish a robust governance framework for its board of directors and senior management) and the shareholder sustainability requirements;
   2. removal of the requirement to ensure that there is no exclusivity in the use of payment terminals / devices to support only a specific payment network or instrument; and
   3. enhancements to the requirements on business continuity management and outsourcing.
3. The MAS Policy Document will have a material impact on Qualified Acquirers, as they:
   1. will need to implement or materially enhance among others, their existing governance policies, risk management framework, merchant acquisition and monitoring system, settlement system, outsourcing procedures / arrangements, business continuity management and IT systems; and
   2. will be exposed to increased liabilities to provide funds settlement to merchants if the issuer, payment facilitator, or any other parties involved in the handling of the settlement funds fail to fulfil its settlement obligations.
4. Other participants in the payment industry and persons who deal with Qualified Acquirers (including outsourced parties) will also be affected, as these obligations will likely be passed on by the Qualified Acquirers to these third parties.
5. The MAS Policy Document will come into effect on 15 March 2022, except in respect of non-bank Qualified Acquirers, the information technology requirements will come into effect on 15 September 2022 and the minimum capital requirements will come into effect on 15 September 2023. Given the scale and materiality of the requirements, Qualified Acquirers should immediately conduct a gap analysis on their existing systems and arrangements and implement steps to comply with the MAS Policy Document.

In more detail

Some of the key requirements and standards are set out below.

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